Salem Falls

Louis wanted Evelyn, that much was obvious. Ever since he first met her that day in Main Street Antiques, she’d been driving him crazy. She was all he could think about – every moment of his free time was occupied by Evelyn, and he kept her in mind even the things he did without her. He’d started going to school again like she wanted. He was using his smarts to tutor and make some money to take her on dates. He actually washed his jeans every once and a while in hopes that maybe, just maybe, she’d take them off.

That afternoon in the forest seemed to be the day that maybe finally came to call.

They were beneath that same tree where Evelyn had once told Louis that she was magic. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees, speckling their skin with spots of warm glow. Evelyn had a splattering of sunlight freckles dancing across her cheeks as she lay beneath him, his lips gliding deftly across hers. He had one hand on her cheek, the other placed firmly on her hip, his fingers inching beneath the fabric.

He was testing her and she didn’t seem to be stopping him. She kissed back only more fiercely, taking his lower lip between her teeth, sucking and nibbling on it gently. Every nerve ending in his body went crazy, her touch electrifying him right to his core.

“Ev,” he moaned when she let go, pressing his body against hers even more, not realizing they could be even closer. He could feel her smiling slyly into the kiss, her hands tangling in his hair, her lips crashing against his.

He’d been surprised when she’d called him up out of the blue after school, asking if he wanted to go to the forest. He was even more surprised when she’d showed up at the spot beneath the tree with a tartan blanket, spreading it over the brush for them to sit on. And he just about went over the edge when he saw her crawl across the fabric and lay back, gazing up at him expectantly.

But it didn’t take much for him to follow suit. In moments, he was on top of her, kissing her like his life depended on it.

His fingers skirted her tiny waist, trailing lighting to the hem of her lacy bra. She arched her back beneath him, writhing against his hand. He didn’t know whether to pull away or keep going.

“What are you waiting for?” she breathed teasingly, her bedroom eyes batting at him with impatience.

That was all the go ahead he needed. In moments, he had her shirt over her head and cast aside in the long, lush grass, his hand adroitly unhooking her bra beneath her arched spine. He could feel his arousal rushing in his blood as he exposed her fully then, letting his hands cup her before he leaned in to kiss her again.

Her hands were on his belt buckle, then popping open the button, then sliding the zipper down so slowly Louis thought he would honestly die with anticipation. The way she was moaning in time with the motion of his hands, the feeling of her tongue running across his, and the simple fact that he was with this beautiful girl he liked so much was definitely enough to kill him. Right?

He didn’t want to ask if she was sure. He didn’t wait to wait anymore at all. He wanted Evelyn Connors and he wanted her now.

So he slowly trailed his hands along the edges of her soft body, around the curve of her hips to the hem of her skirt. Taking the fabric in his hands, he began to inch it up to reveal the sweet pale skin of her thighs, and further…

Suddenly, Evelyn sat up. Louis pulled back, stunned at her sudden action, having been jolted directly out of his heavy focus. She had a look of panic in those bright eyes. Even her breaths were heaving and hurried.

“What’s wrong?” Louis asked, immediately retracting his hands from her leg into his lap.

“I can’t do this,” she murmured as she glanced around them in a bewildered expression.

“Okay,” he assured her hurriedly. “Okay that’s fine, we can take it slow.”

He cursed himself then, wishing he would have asked if she was sure, wishing he would have carried out the cliché. He hadn’t meant to scare her off, it was never his intention to push her too far, and now that he had he was ashamed. Evelyn was so delicate, like that little white flower she opened to him when they first came to that place.

But he could fix it. He could set it straight. He could be a gentleman again, the gentleman he was trying so desperately to be for her.

“No,” she asserted, shaking her head frantically. “I can’t do this, I can’t do this with you anymore.”

“What?” he gasped, feeling like he’d been punched straight in the gut, entirely blindsided. He watched her entirely agape as she redressed herself, pulling her shirt over her head again as fast as her arms would take her.

She turned her gaze to him out of weakness, and he could see the tears forming in her eyes. The panic swept over him like a wave, dragging him in the undercurrent. He could feel himself struggling to breathe in the moment, unable to find more words to say.

“I’m sorry Louis, I just…” She fought to keep her composure. “I just can’t. I have to go.”

And without even giving him a second glance, she was gone. Leaving Louis to sit there alone, wondering where he’d gone wrong. The wind whistled as she went, whipping the leaves from the trees with torrential brutality. Louis knew that now the forest could understand her emotions with her magic. He only wished that he could understand himself, left gasping for air and his life ripped entirely from beneath him.